Pages tagged "Author the non-majority rule desk"

Over the last two years, a staggering 28% of gubernatorial races were awarded to candidates who failed to win 50% of the vote. With so many state executives in power without the expressed consent of the majority, we have to question whether our system successfully functions to deliver the will of the people.

Approval voting is a method of voting to elect single winners that has adherents among some voting theorists, but it is unworkable in contested elections in which voters have a stake in the outcome. Once aware of how approval voting works, strategic voters will always earn a significant advantage over less informed voters. This problem with strategic voting far outweighs any other factor when evaluating the potential use of approval voting in governmental elections - and is also true of range voting, score voting, the Borda Count and Bucklin voting.

As debate subsides on the impact of the recent special election in New York's 26th congressional district, it's time to step back and examine more fundamental dilemmas within the election process as revealed by this election.

The counting and recounting of ballots in the 2010 elections is nearly over. In a final wrap-up blog from the Non-Majority Rule desk, we review the role of so-called “spoilers” in a few more very close elections. We also offer a preview of what’s in store in 2012, starting with the wide-open contest for the Republican nomination, and highlight media attention to a city offering a better means to elect winners: Oakland, with its ranked choice system of instant runoff voting.

As November approaches, several major races for governor and U.S. Senate have three candidates polling in double digits, with no candidate close to a majority. That fact and likely ultimate outcome in several races shows the defects of a plurality, vote-for-one system where the majority can split its votes and lose. But plurality voting also creates an ongoing problem for voters who end up abandoning their true preferences.

This week at the Non-Majority Rule desk I’m going to focus on lessons from two important developments in statewide races: the U.S. Senate race in Alaska and the race for governor in New York. Recent developments in the two states’ races demonstrate another aspect of the dangers of plurality voting: How it can shortcut democracy even when majority victories are ultimately produced.